Many investors treat indexes like commodities, figuring that one small cap value index is as good as the next. IndexUniverse's Matt Hougan (president of ETF Analytics) and Dave Nadig (director of Research) will explode that myth and reveal some of the biggest issues facing index investors today. Topics include:

• Why classifications matter: The gaps in country, size, style and sector classifications
• A call to arms: Do we need new, better investable fixed-income and commodity indexes?
• Rebalancing and the index effect: Are arbitrageurs stealing your returns?

A decade of sub-par equity returns. Interest rates stretching towards zero. How do institutional investors find the returns they need in 2012? This panel gathers leading institutional index strategists to discuss:

• Finding non-correlated returns in a highly correlated market
• Accessing niche markets: The frontiers of indexing
• Choosing an index: The institutional perspective

IndexUniverse's Matt Hougan will provide a complete introduction to ETFs and explain how to evaluate competing funds and choose the best one in every area of the market.

For institutional investors, trading costs at scale are key. This session will examine how to achieve best execution … even in seemingly illiquid ETFs … by accessing the liquidity of the underlying securities, using live quotes and trading floor video feeds. Topics include:

• Evaluating and accessing the underlying liquidity in ETFs
• The role of market-makers and how to work with them
• The creation/redemption process: How to trade huge blocks in tiny funds.

Record volatility is taxing the patience and the portfolios of institutional investors. This panel will review the latest advances in index-based strategies designed to capitalize on/insulate portfolios from volatile markets. Topics will include:

• Portable alpha and related derivative strategies
• Buywrites, putwrites and volatility products: Benefits and risks
• Black Swan strategies: Worth the cost?

Keynote Address: Debt Deflation vs Central Bank Reflation

The strong returns of emerging markets have saved many a portfolio in recent years. But are first generation emerging markets indexes the best solution? This panel will address the key issues institutional indexers should consider regarding emerging markets, including:

• The many emerging markets: The case for and against country-specific investing
• How deep should you go? Are small-caps emerging markets investable?
• The case for active: Are all emerging markets appropriate for indexing?

Commodity investing has gone mainstream. But are investors gaining the exposure they need? Do first-generation index products make good investments? This panel will answer that question and address topics like:

• The base case: Do commodities deliver? And what is beta in the commodities market?
• What's driving rising correlations?
• Choosing roll strategies: Contango, backwardation and the best approach to commodities futures

We present the most important index-related academic papers of the past year. The session will feature three 20-minute presentations, each followed by five minutes of Q&A.

• "A Survey of Alternative Equity Index Strategies" - Li
• "Should Benchmark Indices Have Alpha? Revisiting Performance Evaluation" - Cremers
• "Active Management and Performance by Large Institutions" - Petajisto

From making investment decisions to managing boards to upholding the mandate embodied by the fund's mission and values, this session discusses what it means to manage an endowment or pension fund.